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A day wandering among the colonial walls of Puebla leaves us relaxed and ready. A short drive and we're in Tlachichuca. After what feels like a much longer drive, we're at Piedra Grande. The road into the mountains is scarcely maintained and yet constantly ridden. Reminiscent of Ixtaccíhuatl's trails, there are a great many random intersections, deep ruts, protruding rocks, and washouts. The locals clearly hold scant regard for instructive signage, and thankfully, our driver needs none. We have one of our favorite meals of the trip at camp at 14000' -- more meat, cheese, veggies, and tortillas. And then it's time for bed.
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By contrast, the 1 AM start feels reasonable. Still, the no-longer sleepers lament their rude departure from the cool and languid maw of REM sleep as they force down coffee and tea, oatmeal and cheerios. Dustin shares a vision of the world come to a white end. The would-be dreamers ascend through darkness, treading an old aqueduct, just a bit too steep to be an enjoyable trail, past random spray paint memorials, curiously abiding, and finally to the mouth of the Labyrinth. Weaving through this violent mess of a glacier's last destructive efforts, we finally make our way up and out to the current moraine, sandy and desolate. The Glacier lies above. Eerily still, devoid of the chaotic structures we associate with living glaciers, this mass of ice sits like a ghost on the mountain: a commemoration of a period of cooler Earth and accumulation of snow.
Hunched and hooded like dark penitents the climbers huff and struggle to raise each onerous step. Slowly the sun lights the land but shares no perceivable warmth. Our route takes us up the north side of the peak and we poor solar supplicants are left shivering in the gray penumbra. After a few false summits we reach the highest point of Pico de Orizaba, along the deep crater's rim. A few steps down the steep, dusty bank, the air is curiously still, and we settle in to glean what we can from the thin atmosphere and supplement with snacks and water from our packs.
A fine dinner and a better breakfast are gratefully consumed by our weary team back in the ex-soap factory of Servimont. Now we're headed home.
RMI Guide Will Ambler and team
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Mexico's Volcanoes November 8, 2025
Awesome Dustin!!!!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 11/18/2025 at 5:31 am
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Felicidades! Shout out to our son Jacob Johnson! Proud of you! Praying and know this was not easy! But you are an overcomer!!!! #type1diabetesnotkeepingmedown Congrats to all the team and thanks for your teamwork!
Posted by: Don and Barb Johnson on 7/4/2018 at 7:58 am
Posted by: Mike King, JT Schmitt, Ben Ammon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 11,000'
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Congratulations on your successful climb and descent…..... Lot’s of good memories, pretty pictures and the satisfaction of a job well done….......My granddtr and her husband are with the Hauger team, Lindsay and Matt…
Barbara Jones
Posted by: Barbara Jones on 6/25/2018 at 8:42 pm
Mike, congratulations to the team. We know everyone is anxious to Talkeetna. Hopefully, you will get some rest before meeting us in Colorado. Mom and Dad.
Posted by: Ron King on 6/25/2018 at 8:46 am
Posted by: Mike Walter, Robby Young, Alan Davis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 7,300'
That is one Helluva “Ski Hill” . My wife JoAnn and I overnighted in Talkeetna with K2 Aviation and took a flight up to Denali over the dramatically crevassed glaciers in 1993. JoAnn then went back as a Cruise ship excursion in 2000 with her three sisters. Looking up is as close to climbing in Ice and snow as I want to be, although I summitted Mt Whitney in 1986 on Father’s Day ant took a photo with a banner I had made saying “Happy Fathers Day” to give to my father. I piloted a Cessna 172 from Torrence, CA with two other “Climbers” for that “Attempt”. We had tried in May, a month before, but were chased off the mountain after one night in a tent by a major snowstorm. Hopefully you get good weather so you can have views up there. We all look forward to more from you.
Posted by: Paul Claeyssens on 5/20/2018 at 6:02 am
Go for it and be safe.
Posted by: Garland Dobson (PAPPY) on 5/19/2018 at 3:44 pm
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 9,127'
Dear Team, I hope that the weather goods are smiling and that you are making steady progress - be safe from head to toe! Feli (Wolf’s wife)
Posted by: felicitas funke-riehle on 7/20/2015 at 3:05 pm
K-nice work !!! Told you that blue skies await you ! Warm up get dry and conquer that summit:-). Then get your butt back stateside !!! Be safe and have a blast. Take care of your stomach bug. M
Posted by: Michael on 7/19/2015 at 3:04 pm
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